Wild Lilly (5 page)

Mr. Krisp sputtered, while his wife hid a smile behind her hand. “Why, Mrs. Beechum. I had no idea you were here. A pleasure, as always.”

“Likewise,” Mrs. Beechum replied, no smile breaking the severity of her broad face.

Mr. Krisp pursed his lips beneath his mustache and turned to look back at Lilly, who watched their banter with interest. “I’ll have to chat with you another time, Miss Brooks. I brought a welcome gift as a token of our appreciation for our new teacher.”

He handed her a wicker basket from the back of the barouche. Inside were books, paper, and an elegant pen set. It was a very extravagant gift for welcoming a new neighbor. It reminded her of the type of present that clients gave to her father when they were trying to butter him up for something.

“Oh, I can’t possibly accept this, Mr. Krisp. It’s too much,” Lilly protested and tried to hand the basket back.

Mr. Krisp turned to Mrs. Krisp and lifted his lips in a snarl. “You said she would like it.”

Mrs. Krisp remained frozen, her eyes on her lap as her breath trembled in and out of her chest.

Lilly was afraid for the timid woman. “No, I love it, Mr. Krisp. Your wife did a wonderful job. How did she know exactly what I would need?”

“Why, Eunice used to be a teacher before we got married. Now she spends her days taking care of the house. I don’t think she misses it a bit,” Mr. Krisp boasted. Mrs. Krisp flinched at his words.

“Well, we must be going. Ladies.” He tipped his hat and turned the wagon. Dust rose beneath the wheels as the carriage pulled away.

Lilly let out a low breath, watching the retreating couple and shifting the heavy basket in her arms. “That must be the old goat that Uncle Jackson talked about in his letters. The one that wouldn’t take no for an answer and tried to steal this land from him in a dozen different ways.”

Mrs. Beechum uncrossed her arms and gazed at Lilly with a worry in her eyes. “More like an old snake than a goat. Be careful of that one, Miss Brooks. He is a real hard case. Once he figures out that he won’t charm the land from you, he’ll try to bulldoze you into selling.”

Lilly exhaled and carried the basket inside. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I don’t plan on selling this land anytime soon. Especially not to a bully.”

Mrs. Kerns glanced up from her inspection of some quilts removed from the cedar chest. “I think Mr. Krisp has underestimated you, Miss Brooks. You may look as delicate and sweet as an angel, but I think there is some steel in your backbone.”

The earthenware plates rattled as Mrs. Beechum stacked them back in the cabinets. “We aren’t trying to scare you, dear. It’s just...well, people that get in Mr. Krisp’s way tend to have bad things happen to them. Put him off as long as you can before you give him an outright no.”

Dusting her hands off on her apron, Lilly smoothed down the edges of the braided rug with her foot. “I’ll do that. It shouldn’t be too bad. I won’t see Mr. Krisp very much.”

Maggie piped up. “If you get scared, just go down the road to the McGregor ranch. They’ll keep you safe.”

Lilly nodded and helped Maggie move the furniture back onto the rug. The day she ran to Mr. McGregor for help would be the day the devil ate ice cream in hell.

Chapter Four

Breaking a Stallion

Paul pumped the icy water over his head with a grateful sigh. He had just spent the last two hours filling the mucked-out stalls with sawdust and he was sweat-soaked from the band of his hat to the bottom of his feet. Tossing his damp shirt into the corner, he toweled off as his nine-year-old brother came running to him.

“Paul! Paul! There’s a lady here to see about a horse!” Owen practically vibrated with excitement. He had to smile at the boy’s animation. Owen’s spirit was just beginning to return after the death of their parents three years ago. It was nice to see him acting like a kid again.

“Can’t Rufus handle it?” He asked as he grabbed a clean shirt from the laundry line. He had gotten home late from the Gilded Rose last night and wanted to catch a nap before dinner.

“Rufus is already with her. He asked me to come get you. She’s the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen!”

Paul picked up his pace as he buttoned his shirt. If his ranch foreman wanted him, there must be a good reason. Owen bounced behind him like one of the bullmastiff puppies his family raised.

As he rounded the edge of the barn, he stopped in his tracks. His heartbeat sped in his chest and the focus of his world tapered down to one person. There was Miss Brooks, looking as lovely as could be. A blue cotton dress with white stripes highlighted her slim waist. The neckline was modest and only showed a square section of the smooth skin of her chest, much to his disappointment. She held a new parasol, pale blue this time. A white bonnet with blue ribbons hid her face from his hungry eyes.

As she tipped her head back to laugh at something Rufus said, she caught sight of him. The laughter fell from her face and a scowl twisted in its place on her kissable pink lips. Rufus turned around to see who she was glaring at and hid a smile behind his hand.

Everyone on the ranch had heard about Miss Brooks decking him in the middle of the street. Even on the frontier, good gossip traveled fast. Estrella had wanted to go beat Miss Brooks up to defend his honor, but he put a stop to that. The last thing he needed was his mistress giving his new neighbor a black eye.

Paul slowed his walk to a saunter, evaluating her reaction to his presence. He wanted her to soften to him, needed her to sell him those three thousand acres she inherited. The ranch was split equally between his brothers and sister. They needed more land so the ranch could sustain them and their families as they grew up.

When they had moved out here, it had been his parents' dream to have a place where all their children could grow old together, a place that would truly be a home. Now, if he could just convince the exquisite Miss Brooks to sell the land to him instead of to Lee Krisp, that dream could become a reality.

***

Good God, he was even better looking than Lilly remembered. For whatever reason, his shirt hung only half buttoned, revealing a sculpted physique that made her eyes widen. Between the yellow fabric panels of his shirt, his heavily muscled chest and chiseled stomach rippled as he moved. A pair of weathered leather chaps drew her eyes to a place no decent woman would stare at. As she watched, one tiny bead of water traveled over the dark skin of his throat, and slid a path down his tight, flat belly to disappear into the fabric. Lilly sucked in a lungful of air as she realized she had forgotten to breathe.

He moved like a predator as he approached the stables, with Owen grinning at his heels. His entire attention seemed focused on her as he strode closer, little puffs of dust rising beneath his tooled leather boots. She shifted nervously, fighting the temptation to run away from all that incredible male strength.

“Miss Brooks, you look lovely today,” Mr. McGregor said as he boldly raked his eyes over her figure. His gaze seemed to linger on her breasts, and to her everlasting embarrassment, she felt her nipples grow stiff and sensitive under his scrutiny. His blue eyes shot back to her face and a taunting little smile teased at his lips. This brought her indignation back to the surface. Yesterday this man had called her a soiled dove, and now here he was staring at her in the way no civilized man should look at a lady.

“I wish I could say the same, Mr. McGregor. Did I interrupt your much-needed bath?” She tilted her nose and glared at him. A wet curl of his sable hair lay against his strong neck. She wanted to lift it off his skin and replace it with her lips.

His eyes narrowed and he hooked his hands into his gun belt. That drew her eyes back to the rather impressive place she shouldn’t be looking at between his legs. A blush burned her cheeks as her eyes flashed to his.

“Miss Brooks would like to purchase a carriage horse and a riding horse, Paul.” Rufus gestured toward the corral. “Said she’s an experienced rider, and wants a horse that can go the distance out on the range.”

Paul arched one black brow in disbelief. “Why don’t we bring out one of the gentle mares for her? I’m sure Miss Brooks is more used to rides in the park than out on the plains.”

Lilly gripped her parasol tightly. It wouldn’t do to beat him in front of Owen and Rufus. “I assure you, Mr. McGregor, I can ride just as well as you can.”

“In those skirts? I don’t think so, Miss Brooks.”

With a sniff, she lifted her skirt. “In Connecticut, it’s fashionable for a woman to wear riding breeches beneath her dress.”

She glanced up and caught him getting a good look down the slightly gaping front of her dress. Lilly straightened with a jerk and glared at Paul. Her body betrayed her again by flushing with that dizzying heat that seemed so close to the surface around him.

Owen climbed the wooden fence and straddled it. “How about we let her try out Storm?”

Paul shook his head as Rufus replied, “Now, Owen, I don’t think that is a good idea.”

“Why ever not, Rufus? Surely you don’t believe that a woman like me is capable of riding only a pony?” Lilly gave him the look that had always made her father sigh and give in.

Rufus didn’t disappoint. He flushed. “No, ma’am.” Rufus hollered toward the open doors of the barn, “Mark, saddle up Storm and bring ’im out here.”

Paul threw his hands in the air. “Have you all lost your mind? Well, I won’t be responsible if something happens to you, Miss Brooks.” He stomped off to the other edge of the corral with his tight rear working those jeans for all they were worth.

Lilly tried to calm her beating heart as she closed her parasol and leaned it against the edge of the fence.

“I’ll hold it for you, Miss Brooks. I wouldn’t want something so nice to get dirty,” Owen offered with a big grin. He looked a lot like Paul, with the same nose and eyes. She wondered if he was his son.

“Thank you, but I don’t want your father to get mad at you.”

Owen’s face fell and he ducked his dark head. “Paul’s not my dad—he’s my brother. My dad....” Owen’s voice trailed off and ran the edge of his sleeve across his nose.

Paul started to make his way over to them with a worried look but Lilly stopped him with a silent gesture. She knelt in front of Owen and tipped his head up. “My apologies, Owen.” She held his gaze with her own. “Thank you for sticking up for me, and for being brave enough to help me get the horse I need. The world needs more men like you.”

The child beamed at her and dashed away a tear she pretended not to see. “You’re welcome, Miss Brooks. I know you can ride Storm. He only throws the riders that are scared of him. If you show him who’s boss, he’s gentle as a lamb.”

Another young man a little older than Owen and with Paul’s dark hair and faded blue eyes, escorted a huge grey gelding with a black-and-white mane and tail out into the corral. Lilly felt a flash of fear that made her palms sweat. He was the biggest horse she had ever seen. The gelding snorted and pranced at the earth, eager to stretch his legs after the confinement of his stall.

Rufus glanced from her to Storm with a worried expression. “Now Miss, if you think you would like to try ano—”

“No. Thank you. This is fine.” A glance from the corner of her eye showed Paul leaning against the fence, watching her from beneath the brim of his Stetson. If she wasn’t nervous before, she was now. He stared at her in a most uncivilized fashion.

Storm blew air out of his nose as she came closer. The young man holding his reins gave her a searching look, but stepped aside as she approached the horse’s face. With gentle hands, she cupped his velvety-grey mouth and blew gently into his nose.

“There we go. You are a big boy, aren’t you? So strong and handsome.” Lilly continued to talk quietly to the horse as he nibbled at her gloved hands with his soft lips and took in her scent. Moving slowly, but with great assurance, she slid to the side of the horse and glanced back to the young man who stared at her with an open mouth.

“Can I get a leg up, please?”

His jaw snapped shut as he nodded and gave her booted foot a lift. Apprehension tightened Lilly’s gut as she sat astride the horse—he was so much bigger than her Arabian mare at home. Storm sensed her unease and danced about a bit.

“Easy there, big guy. I’m just getting used to sitting in the clouds.” Lilly leaned forward and ran a hand down his smooth, grey neck. Storm pranced about, a showy high step that made Lilly laugh. “All right, let’s see what you’ve got, my Storm.”

She began in an easy trot around the large circle of packed earth. Storm’s stride was longer than she was used to, but once she got his rhythm down he moved like a dream. Lilly had to bite her lips to keep from laughing at Paul’s face as she rode by. His expression grew sour as Owen bounced around him and pulled on his arm.

Moving faster, Storm eased into a canter that made her heart sing. He was a wonderful horse, responsive, and with a sensitive mouth that almost made directing him unnecessary. He seemed to know when she wanted to speed up and slow down. Easing him back into a trot, he did a fancy side step as they moved back to the waiting men.

Rufus was beaming, Owen was jumping up and down, Mark was staring, and Paul was fighting a grin.

Lilly dismounted, unable to stop the joyful smile that filled her face as Storm nuzzled and lipped at her arm. “Oh, he is wonderful! What an amazing creature. I’ll take him.”